BIS renews for sixth year export privilege denial for Rossiya Airlines

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has renewed for a sixth year the temporary denial order that suspends the US export privileges of Rossiya Airlines, the St. Petersburg-based carrier. The decision was signed on November 3, 2026 by David A. Peters, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement, and is published in the Federal Register of November 5, 2026 (Vol. 91, No. 213, Notices, FR Doc. 2026-22598).

The order rests on Section 766.24 of the Export Administration Regulations (15 CFR parts 730–774), which allows BIS to deny a respondent’s export privileges when necessary in the public interest to prevent an “imminent violation.” ECRA, 50 U.S.C. 4801–4852, expressly authorizes such orders in Section 4820(a)(5). The denial takes effect immediately and remains in force for one year, and it covers Rossiya Airlines, Pilotov St 18–4, St. Petersburg, Russia, 196210, together with its successors, assigns, agents and employees.

A pattern of violations, renewed six times

BIS first denied Rossiya’s export privileges on May 20, 2022, for a 180-day period, issued ex parte and effective upon issuance. The agency has renewed the order without interruption ever since, arguing each time that the carrier showed “a pattern of repeated, ongoing and/or continuous apparent violations” of the regulations. The renewal chain runs as follows:

• November 15, 2022 (87 FR 70780)
• May 12, 2023 (88 FR 31483)
• November 8, 2023 (88 FR 77952)
• November 5, 2024 (89 FR 88721)
• November 4, 2025 (90 FR 50938)
• November 3, 2026, the current one-year renewal

The Office of Export Enforcement filed its written request for this sixth renewal on October 8, 2026, more than 20 days before the order’s scheduled expiration. Because international mail service to Russia is temporarily suspended, the agency attempted delivery by alternative means under Sections 766.5 and 766.24(d). No opposition to the renewal was received.

Aircraft subject to US rules, still flying

Since February 24, 2022, BIS has required a licence for the export, reexport or transfer to Russia of any aircraft or aircraft part classified under ECCN 9A991, with applications reviewed under a policy of denial. From March 2 of that year, aircraft registered in, owned or controlled by Russia or Russian nationals were excluded from licence-exception eligibility. According to the order, Rossiya continued to operate aircraft subject to the regulations and classified under ECCN 9A991.b without authorisation.

The evidence attached to the renewal request covers flights between August and September 2026 with the following aircraft and destinations:

• Tail numbers RA–73187, RA–73817, RA–73819, RA–73209 and RA–73211, all Boeing 737–8LJ airframes
• Yerevan, Armenia, and St. Petersburg, Russia
• Guangzhou, Shanghai and Sanya, China
• Osh, Kyrgyzstan, and Tashkent, Uzbekistan
• Antalya, Turkey, and Moscow, Perm, Sochi, Chelyabinsk, Krasnoyarsk and UFA in Russia
• Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada, Egypt

Earlier renewal orders had already documented flights from Dubai and Sharjah, Bishkek, Samarkand and Kazan, among other points. BIS concluded that the violations were “significant and deliberate” and that, given the matters under investigation, there is a likelihood of imminent violations.

What the order prohibits

The renewal bars any person from participating, directly or indirectly, in transactions involving any commodity, software or technology subject to the Export Administration Regulations in connection with Rossiya. In practice this means:

• No applying for, obtaining or using any licence, licence exception or export control document, except for flight safety
• No negotiations, orders, purchases, sales, deliveries, storage, transport or financing of items subject to the regulations
• No facilitating Rossiya’s acquisition or attempted acquisition of ownership, possession or control of such items
• No benefiting from transactions involving items exported from the United States, and no servicing of items owned, possessed or controlled by the carrier
• Servicing includes installation, maintenance, repair, modification and testing

After notice and an opportunity for comment under Section 766.23, any other person, firm or business organisation related to Rossiya by ownership, control, position of responsibility or affiliation may also be made subject to the order. Rossiya may appeal at any time to the Office of the Administrative Law Judge of the US Coast Guard in Baltimore, Maryland.

Why it matters

The renewal is a standing warning to logistics operators, lessors, maintenance providers and traders in third countries: any company that sells to Rossiya or services its aircraft is exposed to US enforcement action, even when the transaction takes place outside the United States. By keeping the order alive for a sixth year, Washington signals that the aviation supply chain around Russian carriers remains a priority target and that the burden of due diligence falls on counterparties.

Source: Federal Register, Vol. 91, No. 213, November 5, 2026, Notices, p. 69793 (official reference: FR Doc. 2026-22598).